American Boxing Day Tradition

**Mr. MacDougall** · 10th January 08, 12:25 PM

It is a great tradition, and that pin is a great gift. I wish I were still in touch with some of my old shipmates, but time passes, and sailors drift on....

**ccga3359** · 10th January 08, 01:20 PM

Sound simply wonderful Jay but you forgot to mention the one special gift each of you seven get and that is that others take the time to think about each other throughout the year searching for that perfect gift and that one of the number is still always remembered and honoured. Perhaps it's because of your shared combat experiences but this bond is not that common and should be cherished.

**James MacMillan** · 10th January 08, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by pipesndrumsnun

Very nice, Jay! Do you have any kilt converts in the bunch?

Nope – one guy has a UK, which he sometimes uses in the summer at BBQ’s

Originally Posted by ccga3359

Sound simply wonderful Jay but you forgot to mention the one special gift each of you seven get and that is that others take the time to think about each other throughout the year searching for that perfect gift and that one of the number is still always remembered and honoured. Perhaps it's because of your shared combat experiences but this bond is not that common and should be cherished.

We do try…. Can’t hit a home run every year, but as I sit here at the keyboard, without moving from my chair, I see seven things from years past. A rear-view mirror mounted on my monitor, a day clock (no numbers just days of the week), a relative strength meter, cigar humidor, framed working tools, special “twisted” coffee cup, and a book of kells, and that’s just without moving. Not much value when I leave, but priceless for me. To me the most important thing is the fun times we have together!

We also have a bottle of very good scotch in a tontine, that I hope not to taste.

Old age does strange things to some.

**CactusJack** · 10th January 08, 05:36 PM

Very nice Jay, and I can just picture in my mind how proud you look when wearing it..

**Monkey@Arms** · 10th January 08, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by James MacMillan

We also have a bottle of very good scotch in a tontine, that I hope not to taste.

A tontine, there's a word you don't hear everyday. I've only come across the concept on a The Simpsons episode about a tontine entered into during WWII involving Grampa Abe and Montgomery Burns.

Best regards,

Jake

**James MacMillan** · 11th January 08, 09:47 AM

This is the third tontine (not money) that I have been involved in. One was with 5 cubans (2 Cohiba, 3 Montecristo) that we did among an original 55 guys in the early sixties. This tontine was broken when it got down to 5. I am also in another that has a bottle of Dom Pérignon.

It's funny, most would want to be the last person, but in most of us, we don't....

**macwilkin** · 11th January 08, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by Monkey@Arms

A tontine, there's a word you don't hear everyday. I've only come across the concept on a The Simpsons episode about a tontine entered into during WWII involving Grampa Abe and Montgomery Burns.

Best regards,

Jake

I always think of the episode of MASH where Col. Potter is the last survivor of a tontine by some of his buddies from WWI.

T.

**Alan H** · 11th January 08, 12:34 PM

Pass to the US Open? You guys don't mess around.
Blinkin' nice pin, BTW.

**James MacMillan** · 11th January 08, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by Alan H

Pass to the US Open? You guys don't mess around.
Blinkin' nice pin, BTW.

Nah - it's only a one day pass for the second day, so that is like $35.00 - that's about the median price for things we exchange. Cost is not the factor, unless one of the guys finds out that it was too much - that is considered bad form and is highly discouraged.

Also remember that the open is just down the road from me this year - at Torrey Pines.